Social Fact of Durkheim
Billow and the Social Fact Social Fact is a concept by Durkheim and can be described according to Billow as being able to excercise a degree of coercive social force (216). Billow presents the idea that Facebook entered without our opinion and consent as a social fact, which altered boundaries of time and location, reducing confidentiality, and do away with our anonymity (215). Reason for Growth According to Billow A reason for the sudden growth of the organic social network known as Facebook given by Billow is that contemporary society had a shared belief that its material existence serves a certain purpose (216). Billow describes the Facebook revolution as moving from the bottom up, rather then from top down, but also admits that when the ideas and propagated by those below, it is those at the top that can shape them into policies (216). Billow quotes The New York Times collumnist Thomas Friedman (2011) as the following: "In the hyper connected world, in the age of Facebook and Twitter, the people are more empowered and a lot more innovation and ideas will come from the bottom up, not just the top down. That's a good thing- in theory. But at the end of the day . . . someone needs to meld these ideas into a vision of how to move forward, sculpt them into policies that can make a difference in peoples lives and then build a majority to deliver on them. Those are called leaders, (p. A 35)" Conclusion The Social Fact of Facebook can be seen as one of the main reason why it has gained considerable growth and traction over time. Facebook itself is a diverse board for posting opinions with friends and those of common interests and it gives a direct line of conversation between the Government and the People, allowing for change to happen. For example looking at the current issue of the Trump Presidency, there was a large advocate group pushing for denying Trump entry into the White House after his win on November 8th 2016. This outcry against Trump was propagaded through Facebook and while it failed to remove him as President-Elect (After the Electoral College confirmed him as the winner Monday December 19th) it did send a clear message that many are opposed to his ideal and many more will continue to be opposed and will continue to challenge the Trump Government through the Social Network such as Facebook. It's impossible to tell the future of the world. It is greatly changing faster then we can comprehend, but whatever happens, it is almost certain that Facebook will have a large part to play (Alongside other networks like Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat) due to the fact that it has become so ingrained in our world as is a Social Fact. Something that we cannot get rid of and is there. No matter how much we try, Facebook is here to stay and will simply continue to evolve with the times and tribulations - like a organic plant adopting to change and climate - until every user stops using it or the apocalypse comes. Sources # Billow, Richard M. “Facebook as ‘Social Fact.’” Group, vol. 36, no. 3, 2012, pp. 213–222. www.jstor.org/stable/41939418.